Relieving Moderate Pain and Vision Changes from Drug Therapy
Headaches
Some medicines, like those taken to reduce nausea, can lead to headaches. Our tips to ease this include:
- Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
- Ask your care team which nonprescription (over-the-counter) pain medicine is right for you.
- Change to a different anti-nausea medicine.
Muscle and joint aches
Certain treatments including chemotherapy and immunotherapy can cause muscle aches. They often start the day after treatment and can last for 2 to 3 days.
Paclitaxel is one of the chemotherapy drugs that can cause this to happen. Immunotherapy can also cause muscle and joint aches. You can take nonprescription drugs such as ibuprofen (Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) to help with the pain.
Warm packs, warm baths, and massages are also good options. Not everyone will have these symptoms. For some they may be very mild.
Nerve impact
Common symptoms of nerve impact include numbness and burning or tingling in your fingers or toes. If it extends to your hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs, call your care team right away. Team members may adjust your chemotherapy dose.
Let your team know if these symptoms interfere with your daily routines such as writing, fastening buttons, or opening bottles. If this causes you pain, your team can:
- Reduce your dose of cancer medicine
- Prescribe other medicine to treat the nerve problems
Symptoms usually go away when treatment ends. Sometimes they last for months or, not often, for years.
Vision changes
Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and anti-nausea medicines can all cause vision changes. This is a rare side effect.
The condition is temporary. You won’t need a new prescription for contact lenses or glasses. Symptoms include:
- Blurred vision
- Red, itchy, or dry eyes
- Watery eyes
- You may be referred to an eye doctor or get recommendations to use certain eye ointments.
Current as of: 6/2019